Date Night
by caseyedith
Summary: The Buso Renkin gang is going dancing! Post-anime.


Just finished watching the Buso Renkin anime! Loved it! It was a bit weird...well, a lot weird, and I wasn't crazy about the racy jokes... But otherwise, it was a great story, and Nobuhiro Watsuki is once again a genius with characters! Kazuki and Tokiko are such a cute couple! So, now we have this one-shot :). Hope you like it! Once I read the manga, I will be thinking about other stories I can write for Buso Renkin. But I am of course still working on my other stuff too! Anyway, enjoy! _ce

* * *

"You can't be serious, Kazuki?" Tokiko visibly grimaced as her boyfriend protested his seriousness.

"Aw, c'mon, Tokiko, why not? You like to dance, don't you?"

Thinking back on it, Kazuki realized he really shouldn't have asked…

"DO YOU REALLY NEED TO ASK THAT?" Tokiko yelled, grabbing him by the collar of his jacket and shaking him. "NO! I do not like to dance! I don't even know how!" Kazuki honestly drove her crazy sometimes, with how often he wanted to do things which made her uncomfortable. He _still_ insisted on going to the pool every other weekend, just to see her wear the two-piece swimsuit he loved so much. The one where he could see her bellybutton… Tokiko once again reminded herself to get a new suit, because he got her to go more often than not.

Kazuki grabbed her wrists and smiled. "Tokiko… Don't worry about it! You don't have to know 'how' to dance… We're just going to have some fun. And I'll teach you! You might as well come to the dance, 'cause we're all going, and Mahiro's coming over here to take you shopping."

"Tokiko!" That was Mahiro's chipper voice calling now…

"Go! Have fun!" Kazuki stole a quick kiss, making Tokiko blush, and then handed her over to his younger sister. Mahiro carted her away by the hand, going on and on about the cute dresses they were going to buy…

_Kazuki…_ Tokiko vowed she'd get her new swimsuit today, as long as she was going shopping.

* * *

"Oh, Tokiko, this one looks so _pretty_!" Mahiro cooed over a plum black dress, sprinkled with glitter so that it resembled the night sky in late autumn. Tokiko took one look at it and just said it flat out.

"No."

"Oh, Tokiko, why?? You'd look so great in this! Try it on, try it on!" Mahiro forced her into the changing room, and tossed the dress in after her. Saori and Chisato both giggled.

"Why do I have to do this, Mahiro? Can't I just wear something of yours? _Please?_" Tokiko changed as quickly as she could, not even glancing in the mirror; anything to get this over with.

"Nuh-uh, Tokiko! It would be weird for you to wear something of mine, Kazuki's my brother! Duh…" Mahiro looked to the door opening excitedly. She just knew Tokiko would look lovely in this dress. After all, she had excellent taste in clothes!

"Okay, see, it looks terrible! I'm taking it off now!" Tokiko let them see her for a full two seconds, and then tried to shut the door to change again. But Mahiro held it open.

"Tokiko, no! Did you even look? You look GREAT! Oh, c'mon, Tokiko! This has to be the dress!" Tokiko sighed. Then, she looked in the mirror.

It was…a beautiful dress. The color was almost black, but not quite, and the plum sheen gave it a luxurious look, off-set nicely by the spray of diamond-like glitter. It had narrow spaghetti straps that crisscrossed a few times in the back before attaching. It was form-fitting to the knees, and the bottom of the dress and train swirled around Tokiko's feet.

"Well, I… I guess it is pretty, Mahiro, but I can't wear this!" Tokiko just blushed at the thought. She liked to wear serviceable clothing, that she could fight in at a moment's notice. Cotton or other lightweights, shorts, skirts, socks and sneakers were her kind of thing. Not elegant evening gowns and…_high heels_…

"Yes you can, silly! It's not expensive!" Mahiro craftily tore off the bottom of the price tag. Tokiko would never have to know how much it actually cost, since she and the other girls would chip in to buy it for her. She just had to have this dress, it was an unchangeable fact of life!

"No, it's not that, it's… I don't know about this dress, Mahiro. It's too…elegant for me. I'd be embarrassed wearing it, when I'm going to something you're all dragging me to, and I can't even dance!"

"Listen, Tokiko! Okakura thinks he can dance, which he can't, but we never say anything about it. And, you're a girl! You'll do just fine. Your Valkerie Skirt was all about agility and precision right?"

"…Right…" Tokiko thought she could see where Mahiro was going with this, with some dismay. And it would almost make sense…

"So, to be a good dancer, you just have to be agile and move to the beat! You can do it, and Kazuki and the rest of us will help you. We're just going to have fun. Now, we'll all chip in for the dress, and then get you a great pair of shoes! I'm thinking satin, low-heel pumps will work, since no one will see your feet anyway. Oh! And we still have to think about make-up, and hair and nails and jewelry! _Ahhhh_! I _love_ dressing up!"

"…I'd honestly have more fun taking out a homunculus. Mahiro, if it isn't expensive, then why is everyone chipping in?" Mahiro pretended to be clueless as she closed the door on Tokiko again, so she could change back. But when Tokiko emerged, with the silky material draped over her arm, she said, "I'll buy it, you guys still have to buy all your stuff too. Since everyone's so set on it, I guess it might be kinda nice to have a formal dress… Besides, I'm not getting make-up, hair, nails, or jewelry. No. Way." And no amount of pleading on Mahiro's part could change her mind. She was placated though, when Tokiko let her pick out the perfect pumps to go with her dress… and they were cheap too.

* * *

"Hey, Kazuki, where are the girls? I thought I was late!" Okakura ran up to the rest of his buddies, waiting outside the girls' dormitories. He still had his comb and was doing finishing touches on his hair. Once he finished, all the guys looked over their rented tuxes one last time.

"Lookin' good, my bruthas!" Okakura said, slapping Rokumasu on the back. Roku started forward, and fixed his glasses.

"We're all wearing the same tux, Okakura," he said calmly, "but with different color shirts. Of course we all look good."

"Rokumasu, why do you have to be so damn un-fun all the time? Lighten up, wouldja?" Okakura slapped him again and snorted. Kazuki laughed.

"They're still getting ready. Tokiko texted me saying that Mahiro wanted to do something last minute. But they should be down any second." He smiled happily, thinking about how pretty Tokiko would look in whatever she'd bought with the girls. Mahiro had confided in him yesterday that she was absolutely gorgeous. Like he needed to be told…

A few minutes later, Mahiro came out to greet them by herself. She was wearing a pink strapless dress with a princess hem, and silver belted waist. Her silver heels and jewelry matched. Kazuki almost didn't recognize his baby sister, since she was wearing make-up. Her hair was also braided to the side, and adorned with a silver rose.

"Taa-daa! What do you guys think?" she asked, twirling around. Kazuki's face reddened.

"Mahiro? You have to go change, right now! That dress is too grown-up for you! Who let you get a strapless dress?"

"Oh, calm down, big brother! It's modest enough!" She overrode Kazuki's protesting with her excitement.

"I'm going to announce the girls! Tokiko's a little embarrassed, but it was my idea and she said she'd go along with it. Everyone else likes it though! Okay, now, first we have Ouka!"

Ouka came out in a silky blue-gray dress with cap sleeves. The fabric wrapped in folds around her waist to the back, where it bunched at the base of her back, and then cascaded down to the hem. She had her hair done half up and was wearing black suede stilettos. Shusui, wearing a black shirt under his ditto-tux offered her his arm.

"Isn't it a little bit weird that they're brother and sister and going to the dance together, Kazuki?" Okakura whispered to him. Kazuki shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess, but they both have separate dates. They're just very close, Okakura, they're not literally 'going together'." Okakura shrugged and waited for the next girl to come out.

"Next, we have Chisato!"

Chisato, with her short hair pulled into an elegant bun, looking completely different. She was wearing her contacts, and had make-up on like Mahiro. Her dress was a sunflower yellow, made from a fabric with a crinkled finish. She smiled shyly as Rokumasu, wearing a blue shirt under, offered her his arm, and they joined Ouka and Shusui off to the side.

"Saori!"

Tiny little Saori came out in a short dress, making her look like a fairy princess. This was also strapless, making Kazuki feel all protective over his sister's friend, and the feeling got worse because of the length. But he bit his tongue, since he knew he couldn't convince her to change. She also braided her hair to the side, and wore scintillating jewel accents in different colors to match the dress: emerald, sapphire, magenta, and onyx. Daihama, in a gray shirt, took her arm.

"And now, the beautiful _Tsumura Tokiko!_" Mahiro danced for joy as Tokiko came out, looking down and blushing bright red. Kazuki felt his chin drop as he looked at her.

Her bangs had been clipped to the side with a diamond hairpiece. She had told him that she wasn't wearing make-up, but it appeared that Mahiro forced some sheer lip gloss and black mascara on her. _Last minute touches_… Kazuki thought with a smile. Tokiko's dress was floor length, form-fitting, and a deep color that brought out her fair skin and golden eyes. And she was also wearing a diamond necklace that Kazuki hadn't seen before. He'd have to ask her where she got it…

Tokiko lifted her eyes slowly to look at Kazuki. He was beaming, and evidently speechless. She looked down again, blushing even more profusely than before. She honestly had some thoughts of just running back upstairs and locking herself in her room until this stupid dance was over. But, with the way he was looking at her…

"You look beautiful, Tokiko," Kazuki said, now in front of her and taking her hand. Startled, she looked up into his eyes. "You always do," he said gently. "Even when you're slicing and dicing homunculus." He succeeded in making Tokiko laugh, which made her feel better in turn.

"Shut up, Kazuki!" she said, though smiling. Everyone laughed.

"Okay then," Kazuki said, and he curved his other hand around the base of her neck, meeting her lips with his own. And for once, Tokiko didn't care that everyone else was watching.

"Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww! See, I knew buying this dress would be worth it!" Mahiro cooed enthusiastically. Kazuki and Tokiko drew apart, though he still held her hand.

"Let's go to the dance, guys," he said. Okakura took Mahiro by the arm, and then Kazuki led the way, with Tokiko by his side.

"If he makes a move on my sister, we beat him up, okay, Tokiko?" he whispered. "Roger that," Tokiko whispered back. She giggled.

"So, are you glad you're coming?" Kazuki asked her. Tokiko thought about it for a minute, and then nudged him as she said, "Well, maybe. We'll have to see how the dancing goes… How are you going to teach me, set me on your feet and glide around?"

"Would that work?" Kazuki's laugh was cut short by Tokiko jabbing him in the waist. "No, don't do that! I was joking, Kazuki!"

"I know, I know! Listen, just relax. We can just slow dance if you want, it's really easy. But, I have a feeling you'll love this, Tokiko. Dancing is fun!"

"If you say so," Tokiko sighed. With Kazuki as her date, she figured it would be pretty hard not to have a good time, even if she was extremely uncomfortable. And, they both knew this meant she got to pick the next outing. She was already considering things she wanted to do, and all of them involved quiet activities, such as going to a museum or having a picnic by the lake. She was sorely tempted to go to the lake, or even the beach. She was looking forward to wearing her new one-piece swimsuit.

* * *

Surprisingly, the dance was a lot of fun, for everyone. Yes, Captain Bravo was the D.J., and yes, Kazuki did force Tokiko to stand on his feet while he careened around the floor… But, she laughed so much that she was able to forget how out-of-character this felt.

Now that she was no longer an active alchemist warrior, perhaps it was time to do these typical teenage things…

Before dropping Tokiko off for the night, Kazuki took her to an ice cream shop and bought her a small mint chocolate chip in a cup. He himself got double chocolate, also in a cup, so that he could avoid getting his tux dirty and having to fork over the cash to pay for it.

"You really like red, don't you Kazuki?" Tokiko asked him, eying his red shirt.

"Yeah, I guess so. Like the white tie? I thought red, white, and black went together pretty well!"

"Hm," Tokiko laughed. "Yes, I think it does too. I like it."

"Thanks for coming tonight, Tokiko. I had a great time with you, and everyone else did too. Did you have fun?" Tokiko smiled.

"I did… Thanks for taking me, Kazuki."

"Any time. You know that…" Kazuki grinned before wolfing down his ice cream at top speed. "Ah, great stuff!" Tokiko took another small bit of hers, silently agreeing.

"Hey, Tokiko… I like your necklace. Where did you get it?" Tokiko suddenly remembered the faux diamond necklace resting on her collarbone. She touched it with a surprised look on her face.

"Oh, Mahiro… I swear, Kazuki, your sister is going to buy me a whole new wardrobe. She got this as a gift for me… I would never have bought something like this on my own…" Kazuki smiled at her as she looked down.

"Good night, Tokiko." Kazuki kissed her cheek.

"G'night, Kazuki. See you tomorrow." Tokiko smiled at him sweetly, and surprised him by kissing him on the lips, before turning away to go inside.

Feeling completely blissful, Kazuki glided away to the boys' dorms, thinking about what a lucky guy he was. Really, could a guy do any better than a pretty girl who knew how to be serious, kick butt, but still have fun and be affectionate? He didn't think so!

Tokiko secretly watched him amble away. And she smiled.


End file.
